Various types of surgical procedures are currently performed to investigate, diagnose, and treat diseases of the heart and the great vessels of the thorax. Such procedures include repair and replacement of mitral, aortic, and other heart valves, repair of atrial and ventricular septal defects, pulmonary thrombectomy, treatment of aneurysms, electrophysiological mapping and ablation of the myocardium, and other procedures in which interventional devices are introduced into the interior of the heart or a great vessel.
Using current techniques, many of these procedures require a gross thoracotomy, usually in the form of a median sternotomy, to gain access into the patient's thoracic cavity. A saw or other cutting instrument is used to cut the sternum longitudinally, allowing two opposing halves of the anterior or ventral portion of the rib cage to be spread apart. A large opening into the thoracic cavity is thus created, through which the surgical team may directly visualize and operate upon the heart and other thoracic contents.
Surgical intervention within the heart generally requires isolation of the heart and coronary blood vessels from the remainder of the arterial system, and arrest of cardiac function. Usually, the heart is isolated from the arterial system by introducing an external aortic cross-clamp through a sternotomy and applying it to the aorta between the brachiocephalic artery and the coronary ostia. Cardioplegic fluid is then injected into the coronary arteries, either directly into the coronary ostia or through a puncture in the aortic root, so as to arrest cardiac function. In some cases, cardioplegic fluid is injected into the coronary sinus for retrograde perfusion of the myocardium. The patient is placed on cardiopulmonary bypass to maintain peripheral circulation of oxygenated blood.
Of particular interest to the present invention are intracardiac procedures for surgical treatment of heart valves, especially the mitral and aortic valves. According to recent estimates, more than 79,000 patients are diagnosed with aortic and mitral valve disease in U.S. hospitals each year. More than 49,000 mitral valve or aortic valve replacement procedures are performed annually in the U.S., along with a significant number of heart valve repair procedures.
Various surgical techniques may be used to repair a diseased or damaged valve, including annuloplasty (contracting the valve annulus), quadrangular resection (narrowing the valve leaflets), commissurotomy (cutting the valve commissures to separate the valve leaflets), shortening mitral or tricuspid valve chordae tendonae, reattachment of severed mitral or tricuspid valve chordae tendonae or papillary muscle tissue, and decalcification of valve and annulus tissue. Alternatively, the valve may be replaced by excising the valve leaflets of the natural valve and securing a replacement valve in the valve position, usually by suturing the replacement valve to the natural valve annulus. Various types of replacement valves are in current use, including mechanical and biological prostheses, homografts, and allografts.
The mitral valve, located between the left atrium and left ventricle of the heart, is most easily reached through the wall of the left atrium, which normally resides on the posterior side of the heart, opposite the side of the heart that is exposed by a median sternotomy. Therefore, to access the mitral valve via a sternotomy, the heart is rotated to bring the left atrium into a position accessible through the sternotomy. An opening, or atriotomy, is then made in the left atrium, anterior to the right pulmonary veins. The atriotomy is retracted by means of sutures or a retraction device, exposing the mitral valve directly posterior to the atriotomy. One of the aforementioned techniques may then be used to repair or replace the valve.
An alternative technique for mitral valve access may be used when a median sternotomy and/or rotational manipulation of the heart are/is undesirable. In this technique, a large incision is made in the right lateral side of the chest, usually in the region of the fifth intercostal space. One or more ribs may be removed from the patient, and other ribs near the incision are retracted outward to create a large opening onto the thoracic cavity. The left atrium is then exposed on the posterior side of the heat, and an atriotomy is formed in the wall of the left atrium, through which the mitral valve may be accessed for repair or replacement.
The mitral and tricuspid valves inside the human heart include an orifice (annulus), two (for the mitral) or three (for the tricuspid) leaflets and a subvalvular apparatus. The subvalvular apparatus includes multiple chordae tendineae, which connect the mobile valve leaflets to muscular structures (papillary muscles) inside the ventricles. Rupture or elongation of the chordae tendineae result in partial or generalized leaflet prolapse, which causes mitral (or tricuspid) valve regurgitation. A commonly used technique to surgically correct mitral valve regurgitation is the implantation of artificial chordae (usually 4-0 or 5-0 Gore-Tex sutures) between the prolapsing segment of the valve and the papillary muscle. This operation is generally carried out through a median sternotomy and requires cardiopulmonary bypass with aortic cross-clamp and cardioplegic arrest of the heart.
Using such open-chest techniques, the large opening provided by a median sternotomy or right thoracotomy enables the surgeon to see the mitral valve directly through the left atriotomy, and to position his or her hands within the thoracic cavity in close proximity to the exterior of the heart for manipulation of surgical instruments, removal of excised tissue, and/or introduction of a replacement valve through the atriotomy for attachment within the heart. However, these invasive open-chest procedures produce a high degree of trauma, a significant risk of complications, an extended hospital stay, and a painful recovery period for the patient. Moreover, while heart valve surgery produces beneficial results for many patients, numerous others who might benefit from such surgery are unable or unwilling to undergo the trauma and risks of current techniques.
One alternative to open heart surgery is a robotically guided, thoracoscopically assisted cardiotomy procedure marketed under the tradename of the DaVinci® system. Instead of requiring a sternotomy, the DaVinci® system uses a minimally invasive approach guided by camera visualization and robotic techniques. Unfortunately, the DaVinci® system is not approved for mitral valve repair procedures on a beating heart. Thus, the use of the DaVinci® system for mitral valve repair still requires a cardiopulmonary bypass with aortic cross-clamp and cardioplegic arrest of the heart.
While there are other laparoscopic and minimally invasive surgical techniques and tools that have been developed, none of these devices are useable for the unique requirements of mitral valve repair on a beating heart. Suturing devices like the Superstich™ vascular suturing device or the Gore® suture passer are designed to permit manual placement of sutures as part of a surgical procedure, but are not designed for use on a beating heart. While certain annuloplasty techniques and instruments that can suture an annuloplasty ring as part of vascular repair or heart bypass surgery may be used in conjunction with a beating heart, these annuloplasty procedures do not involve the capture or retention of a constantly moving leaflet. Consequently, the design and use of annuloplasty techniques and instruments are of little help in solving the problems of developing instruments and techniques for minimally invasive thoracoscopic repair of heart valves.
Recently, a technique has been developed for minimally invasive thoracoscopic repair of heart valves while the heart is still beating. Int'l Pub. No. WO 2006/078694 A2 to Speziali discloses a thoracoscopic heart valve repair method and apparatus. Instead of requiring open heart surgery on a stopped heart, the thorascopic heart valve repair methods and apparatus taught by Speziali utilize fiber optic technology in conjunction with transesophageal echocardiography (TEE) as a visualization technique during a minimally invasive surgical procedure that can be utilized on a beating heart. U.S. Publication No. 2008/0228223 to Alkhatib also discloses a similar apparatus for attaching a prosthetic tether between a leaflet of a patient's heart valve and another portion of the patient's heart to help prevent prolapse of the leaflet and/or to otherwise improve leaflet function.
While the Speziali invention represents a significant advance over open heart techniques for heart valve repair, it would be advantageous to further improve upon this new technique.